Getting out of the Thai language classroom, the students recently had the opportunity to test their language skills while taking a cooking class taught by their teachers.

It started with an early morning trip to a nearby outdoor market to pick up all the ingredients.  Returning to ISDSI, the students quickly transformed ISDSI’s eating area into multiple cooking stations, before spending the rest of the morning preparing a variety of Thai dishes.  While there was an incredible mixture of smells filling up the outside area, there was also a variety of conversations going on.  Teachers were talking about adding “prik” (Thai chilli pepper) and how it made the food “pet” (spicy), while the students were smelling the different foods and saying how things smelled “hawm” (to smell good).  By the end of the morning, there was everything from papaya salad and north-eastern pork dishes to pad thai and omelette boats spread across the tables.  The students also had a new expanded vocabulary covering different flavors, smells, vegetables, food ingredients, and more.

It was then time to enjoy the food and friendships – a key part of truly immersing oneself in Thai culture!

Here are some photos from the day…